Different Faces of CLT: Analysing the English Syllabus in Sweden’s Gy25 Curriculum

This essay explores the presence and expression of different versions of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in the English syllabus of Sweden’s new upper-secondary school curriculum, Gy25, through a deductive content analysis. CLT has long held an important position in language pedagogy, but its implementation can vary depending on curricular emphasis and the educational context. The study analyses the syllabus to identify different versions of CLT embedded in the Gy25 English syllabus and their implications for teaching practice. Drawing on a theoretical framework informed by Richards and Rodgers’ classification of CLT approaches, the syllabus is examined based on premises about language and learning, alignment with strong or weak CLT, overall focus and typical learning activities for each version. The analysis reveals that content-based, task-based, text-based and competency-based teaching can all be identified in the English syllabus to varying degrees, with versions more closely aligned with strong CLT, such as task-based language teaching and content-based instruction, being more prominently represented. These findings indicate that the syllabus encourages communicative and meaningful language use, while still allowing for more structured or outcome-oriented approaches. The implications for this are discussed as the syllabus’ openness to multiple versions of CLT gives teachers autonomy but may also lead to inconsistent interpretation and implementation across schools. This highlights the importance of teachers’ professional understanding of CLT and the need for critical reflection on how it can be implemented in the classroom.